packages which were destined to fill the pack of the travelling
merchant.

But the baron was not to be gotten rid of so easily, now that his
suspicions had become almost a certainty.

"_I_ must speak with you," he said, brusquely.

M. Lacheneur turned.

"_I_ am very busy," he replied, with a very evident reluctance.

"_I_ ask only five minutes. But if you have not the time to spare
to-day, I will return to-morrow--day after to-morrow--and every day
until I can see you in private."

Lacheneur saw plainly that it would be impossible to escape this
interview, so, with the gesture of a man who resigns himself to a
necessity, addressing his son and Chanlouineau, he said:

"Go outside for a few moments."

They obeyed, and as soon as the door had closed behind them, Lacheneur
said:

"I know very well, Monsieur, the arguments you intend to advance; and
the reason of your coming. You come to ask me again for Marie-Anne.
I know that my refusal has nearly killed Maurice. Believe me, I have
suffered cruelly at the thought; but my refusal is none the less
irrevocable. There is no power in the world capable of changing my